Thursday, June 4, 2015

You may have read the title and thought this is an article about checking all the facts before telling someone they're wrong. There is a great deal to be said about carefully exploring the whole story with true humility before becoming convinced that we're right; Truth is important, our pride is easily hurt, and we're not right nearly as often as we think we are. But this article is not primarily about that; It's about the step after that.

Let's assume a situation in which we're objectively, factually, legally, right. Feels great! Now we can make sure everyone knows it! Well, this article is about how to be right when we face someone that's wrong, whether in a disagreement or offense. What I mean is that it's easy to be factually right but then act in a way that makes us even more guilty than the person who is wrong.

Sunday, May 24, 2015

When there are ills in a society, is it the Church's role only to spread the gospel so that Jesus will change people from the inside? Or is it also appropriate for the Church to expend resources to influence culture, politics, and other social structures?

In other words, to stop human trafficking, should Christians only pray and try to introduce human traffickers to Jesus, or should Christians also work through media to expose the problem, through the justice system to ensure that human traffickers are deterred and prosecuted when caught, and through the social systems to rehabilitate those rescued?

In a recent commentary article at the World Net Daily, theologian and radio host Dr. Michael L. Brown writes that the answer is both, but held in a certain tension. This tension pays close attention to the emphasis with which we do each. Here is an excerpt:

* * *

So yes, it’s true that our great mission – called the Great Commission – is to go and make disciples.

The question is: How do disciples live?

Once we have become followers of Jesus, how does that impact the rest
of our lives? What should our marriages and families look like? What
values will we embrace? What kind of people ought we to be?